Once
by Purle-Stream
Summary: AU. The best things in life only happen once. Take Ally Dawson, for example. She met her best friend Austin Moon when she was 6. Now 16, the pair must face their biggest battle together - the talent show. But Austin doesn't want Ally to lose her 'once', he wants to help her get over her stage fright.. Can he? {Detailed Summary Inside}
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I can hear the collective groans coming from everyone who sees this ahahah. "Oh no, she's starting another one!" I'm sorry folks, but that's true. **

**I've started another fanfiction. **

**I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! This idea struck me like a train and I fell in love with the plot, the idea... I just had to get this idea out. Because it's a little different to what I've seen out there, and I want to write it, and that's enough. :P {Seriously, if I just dedicated **_**four hours straight**_** to devising a ****plan****, you can put up with seeing this on your dash. :P}**

**So now, for those reading my other stories, 'Under a Paper Moon' will be done in a week (because it's only a five parter) but 'Counting the Stars' may be pushed back again. *hides* I'll get it done, I promise, it might just take longer than anticipated! **

**So, back to this story – the summary didn't really give you much, did it? Well, for that purpose, here's a more detailed summary/prologue, told by our beautiful Ally Dawson. :3 This piece is a fragment of Ally's diary. The rest of the story will be in normal narrative. **

**Before you start, I'll just let you know that this is an 'alternate universe' story, meaning no Miami, no Sonic Boom. But, everything from the show (characters, quirks, places, maybe even some events) will take place in this fictional town where the entire universe of Austin & Ally is contained. For example, what would it be like if Kira Starr and the De La Rosa's were neighbours? What would it be like if Brooke, Tilly, Trent and more all went to the same school, and Demonica Dixon was principal? What would it be like if Austin actually never became an internet sensation, but just a normal kid? What would it be like if Austin met Ally not through corndogs, but through barbie dolls? **

**Hehe, it's time for you to find out. ;)**

_**~ *once: CHAPTER ONE - TO COME TOMORROW* ~**_

Dear Diary,

They say life is all about the firsts and the lasts. First kiss, last kiss. The first drop of rain you feel, the last drop of rain you feel. First visit to the park, last visit to the park. First breath... last breath. People seem to catalogue all meaningful experiences into columns of firsts and lasts. No, the journey isn't what matters – according to them, all that matters is how things begin and how they conclude.

I can say with bated breath that those people who believe this are infinitely, perversely wrong. Life isn't about the first and the lasts – it's about the once. The once is the initial meeting of your best friend, sitting next to that stranger on the train that turns out to be your husband, even trying succulent exotic fruits you were scared to touch. The once is a compilation of memories and moments that for all of human history, will only happen one time – to you. Everyone has firsts and lasts, but your once is a sacred idea that is only known to you.

I see your hypothetical nose screwed up, sceptical of this girl Ally who thinks she knows 'everything'. What does a sixteen year old girl know about life, love and the universe? Not much, if I'm being brutally honest. But I've lived a long enough life to know that firsts and lasts are never treasured, because you don't know when they happen. Take when my mum left for example. I thought she'd be around forever, watering our potted plants and making my father his mashed potatoes. Albeit, the next day she fled like the birds to which she went to study. I didn't know the night that we were all cuddled up next to the fire, reading my favourite book, would be branded as my 'last' memory of her.

That's what I like about the once – you know from the get go when it has occurred. I cherish the moments of my first once, when I met Austin Moon. My best friend, if you'd believe it. We met when we were only six years old, when my family moved into the small woodland town of Gracie. Now, our hearts are basically in synchronisation. We spend any and every moment we can together, playing his stupid video games or taking him out for an enlightening session of cloud watching.

I have a feeling I've lost you, and this idea of 'once'. Well, think of it like this: it's the playlist, the menu, the sporting scores... it's everything important simmered into an assortment you can instantly recognise. Imagine going to a restaurant and listing the ingredients and the recipes of the thing you'd like them to bake. How stupid is that? Instead, they'll give you a menu, and slap a name on the entire process so you know what to expect.

Do you sort of see where I'm heading with this? (I remember telling my co-worker at the library this idea... Dallas had no clue what I was on about. I'd understand if you didn't either. I sometimes forget you don't all take a philosophy class like I do. It would be hard for you to do, considering you're just paper...) (Speaking of Dallas, do you think he'll ask me out?) (Please answer me diary, I'm desperate...) (Okay, moving on..)

Anyway, this idea of once is especially lost in a place like Gracie High School. Living in such a small town, not many people embrace the now (me especially). Exempt of course is my best friend, Austin. He constantly lives life in the once, his guitar strapped to his back and a smile of forever printed on his childish expression.

But today I'm not sitting here to force my opinion on you. That would, by very definition, combat the meaning of the word 'opinion'. I'm sharing this with you because I think it's important, and I think people need to know, but most importantly, I just wanted to share. So for anyone who is reading these words (even though you shouldn't be because no one can touch my book):

Welcome to my once.

**A/N: Thanks guys for putting up with me! Shoot me a review and tell me if you'd want to read this story. Do you like the concept? Are you excited? Are you going to read it? What do you think will happen now that the entire world of Austin & Ally has collided? **

**This story is going to take a dramatic, yet humorous approach to the atypical life of a teenager. What it means to love, to care and to live in a world where it feels like you're one against a million... **

**Stay tuned everyone, the first chapter will be up tomorrow! :D**

**Love you all! Thank you so much for reading. **

**~ Purle-Stream xx**


	2. CHAPTER ONE: First One Knocking

**A/N: Hi everyone! Here we are, chapter one, as I promised. :)**

**Before I begin, I just want to address a few things. Firstly, there was someone who reviewed asking about whether this is going to be a 'Austin is a jock, Ally is a nerd' sort of story .Well, I'm happy to tell you that this definitely IS NOT one of those stories. In fact, the ideas of even the labels of 'nerds' 'jocks' 'bad boys' doesn't really come across much in this story. It is featured a **_**little**_**, but it is by no means the focus, and Austin & Ally aren't caught on either side of it. :)**

**I hope you guys like to read, because it accidently got longer than it was supposed to... that happens a lot with me. (It's really painful come essay writing time at school. :P) Anyways, here is the first chapter. Remember to favourite and follow if you enjoyed, and send me a review to tell me what you think! Thanks everyone! :D **

I've always envied tulips. You know, the flowers? I constantly admire the squadron of them in our garden, marvelling at their bright colours. They always seem to be so cosy, blanketed by the rich soil. The incessant green of the forest only adds to the effect.

Tulips are always brightest on the grimmest of days, their petals illuminated by more than the sun, their genus or even physics. They're always beautiful, just like I'll grow to be.

Not to say that I'm not beautiful (in a weird, unconventional way) but I know I have a lot of growing to do. I'm still in high school, what do I know?

These thoughts circulate in my mind, tumbling like clothing in a washing machine. I cock my head to one side, looking at the illusion printed in front of me. The mirror is littered with photos of me and him, us smiling and playing and altogether just mucking around. It's hard to find a space to see myself.

I back away from the mirror, folding my knitted sweater at its' hem. The neon lights of my alarm clock flash and flicker, warning me that my departure must be imminent if I want to be on time. I sling my backpack over my back, and race down the narrow staircase in our small cottage.

I greet my father in the kitchen, his 'Lester' badge catching the sunlight pouring in from the southern window, and flashing straight into my own eyes.

"Morning, sweetie. Pancake?" He smirks, as a pancake flips in the air.

"Uh, I can't. I'm already late and I've gotta meet-" I splutter, before my dad's eyes lower on me.

My father poses his hands on his side, his expression secreting superiority. "Ally, you need to eat. Besides, what does it matter if you're a few minutes late?" He laughs. I certainly do not.

"What about my _education_? My _future_? It all rides on the _now_, dad. And speaking of which, I gotta leave... now." My arms are crossed, as I inch closer and closer to the front door. I don't break eye contact for a second. I do not falter. I remain strong.

It's an often occurrence to get the guilt trip when leaving without breakfast. I guess it's in every parents handbook to inform their kids of nutritious needs. Normally however, it's the mother who breaks the subject. Since I don't really have one of those, Lester is a fine substitute. He can guilt like a pro.

He breaks me.

"I think I'll have pancakes on the run. Two, one for me, one for.. him." My father smirks when I say it, and slips two pancakes into two separate baking paper sleeves. I hold them like ice cream cones.

I holler a goodbye as I jump out the front door. I try to keep balance as I leap across the front porch and find myself on the sidewalk.

I don't have many neighbours. I have two, to be exact. One family lives just across the street, in a modest dwelling much like ours, but our other neighbours live in a picturesque villa at the end on the court. Their house stands like a fortress on the incline. Their gardens are the most pristine, their vehicles are always the shiniest, and their family always smiles the brightest.

The mayor and his family live there. Dad and I are poverty stricken, since he only works in an antiquities store – nowhere near the calibre of running a town. Still, most people like that family. Especially their son, whom may I just say, happens to double as my best friend.

Most people know him just by his face alone, but for me and the people that actually know him, we call him Austin.

"Ally!" The boy with shaggy blonde locks calls, racing down from the pinnacle to which he is homed.

Out comes his skateboard, straddling it without a moment's notice. He finds his footing on the board and slides down the hill with grace. He edges closer and closer, his lopsided causing me to giggle as he attempts to jump on his board in front of me.

Austin hmphs, and flips his board into the air, his hand saddled on the side. He is gaining serious air, causing me to watch him in amazement. My mouth hangs agape.

That is, until gravity does it's thing and knocks him back to the ground.

"Uhhh!" He moans, holding his leg on the ground.

"That's what you get for riding without knee pads. Here, this'll make it better." I hand him one of my father's pancakes, and his eyes lighten up.

"You're the best!" He chants, as I hoist him up from the ground.

This is what constitutes a normal day for us. I'd wait for Austin on the sidewalk as he endeavours to do something stupid, and we'd walk into school together. There is no point to catch a bus, or drive even. Where we live, in Gracie, is a small woodland town on the outskirts of nowhere. The town itself isn't largely populated, meaning you could navigate from one side to the other within about an hour.

It's always cold however, which causes me to lean into Austin as we walk down the streets together. We pass houses, beat up old cars and other travellers like ourselves. The stretch for us to walk isn't relatively long, but it takes us half an hour to reach the school. It starts off in the residential district, our houses being the barricades between the town and the forest. Then you get to the strip of speciality stores down the way, and find Gracie High School plotted at the end of the street.

"Here." Austin hands me one part of his headphone, and slings the other in his own ear. He sets up a playlist on his phone while I take charge and make sure we don't walk out in front of oncoming traffic.

Music is a big deal for both of us. Austin's always aspired to be some big shot performer, and I've always dreamed of seeing myself gracing a stage and wowing everyone with my voice .Of course, that'll never happen because I can't sing in public... I have stage-fright. Even when we were little, music was always part of our lives. Now, every day we take it in turns of choosing the playlist that would carry us into the day.

Sometimes we walk in silence, like we are today. The crisp, morning air leaves us feeling vitalised and energetic, encompassing a speed walk to our destination instead of a meagre chat.

Like foreseen, we get to school ten minutes before the bell. Many teenagers like us flurry through the front gates and angle to get within the doors before bell time. Austin takes the liberty of taking the headphones and wrapping them up in his bag, knowing how Principal Demonica Dixon would feel if she caught sight of someone enjoying anything 'without her permission'.

"I have history now, right?" Austin grips his backpack as he smiles down at me, and I give him a curt nod in reply.

"We're already halfway through the year, how have you not memorised your timetable?" I shake my head. It's just so... _typically Austin._

Then the real rush begins. I may have mentioned before that Austin was the mayor's son. Apparently in the realms of high school, wealth equates to popularity, which means it makes Austin the guy other guys want to be, and the guy that girls want to be with.

But they're all wrong. Austin is the most childish, dorky, rambunctious kid I know. And I love him for it (in a strictly platonic way).

Movies make us think that high school is all about cliques. I'm not going to lie, they do exist but they aren't nearly as prominent as people seem to believe. It just happens that likeminded people happen to make good friends. Although not everything is like that... take Austin and I for example. Polar opposites, you see, yet we bond because we have so much history and so much to connect us. Our interests may be wildly different, but that doesn't matter because we're friends.

Which is why whenever anyone asks, Austin always says no to someone if it means sacrificing time with me. He's good like that.

"Hi Austin..." Brandy, Gracie High's acclaimed diva, fawns. Her posse follow in her worship, both Kitty and Caty batting their eyelids at Austin.

"Uh, morning." Austin tries to act chipper, but I know he's crumbling inside. He can be awfully awkward when it comes to girls.

I float away for a moment, letting Austin have his moment. I inhale deeply, and admire the ridgeline that silhouettes the town.

"Move out of the way, Ally.. .Dally." Trish de la Rosa taunts, pushing past me. She trapezes across the pavement, a band of friends following her. She's seen as a bit of a rebel, considering her sitting in actual classes is an oddity. Many mistakenly label her as a bully. Sure, she can be a little selfish sometimes, but she never aims to hurt anyone on purpose... I don't think.

With tort names like that, I'd doubt her actually wanting to hurt anyone.

I glance back over at Austin, to see him eyeing me in distress. The girls have not moved, and he looks petrified. Taking it as his warning signal, I aim for him and drag him from the girls. They all sigh when I take him away, but Austin pats my shoulder in form of recognition.

I continue to push him through the troves of people bidding him a good morning (none of which extend the same greeting to me) and take us inside the school building and to our lockers. Being juniors, we got to choose where our lockers went. Austin and I have lockers side by side, right next to the cafeteria (Austin's idea mainly).

I unzip my backpack and start shoving some of my books inside. Austin just leans against his locker, his arms crossed, as I work to get everything in order for the week. The florescent lighting flickers down the narrow hallway, as plenty of other school kids start to ready themselves for this Monday morning.

"Did you do the audition?" Austin asks me in complete sincerity. I falter, and have my quaky eyes stray from my locker to him.

"No?" I whisper quietly, seeing the disappointment dispersed across his face. It's not usual for a role reversal like this.

"Ally, you have to – it's for our drama assignment. If you don't submit something, you'll get an F."

"Coming from the guy who hasn't submitted an essay that was due almost a month ago." I reply cynically, my face sporting a look that matches my tone.

"You know how I feel about Macbeth!" He chastises, as someone pushes him out the way to get into their own locker. "But Ally, I know you don't want to, but Ms Suzy isn't just going to let you slide under the radar like Mr Conley did for me." Austin looks gravely concerned.

It's not like me to not do homework, considering school is a place I love. I take a strand of hair and chomp on it aggressively. I can't let someone see me sing. I mean, it was hard enough for me to sing in front of Austin of a weekend, and I've known him for ten years! That anxiety eats at me like a piano does whenever I play it with an audience. I simply can't do it.

"Ally?" His expression is painted with concern, but I simply pluck my books from my locker and glide pass him.

"I'll see you at lunch then, I guess." Austin exasperates, as I fade into the crowd of shuffling students.

* * *

><p>The bell hasn't finished it's chime and I'm already out the door. I race across the pavement, an audible thud echoing as I close the distance between the school and my home. My heart palpitates as I come to the shocking realisation of what has become of me.<p>

I'm a failure.

I'm not going to get to go to college, or live out the life I've worked hard for. This F is going to stain my record, and follow me like a ghost. What am I supposed to do with such a deplorable grade under my belt?

"Ally?" Austin whimpers, as I turn around.

Streams of people are flooding by us, like molecules in a river. Austin and I remain frozen. He stares intently at me, his posture brooding. He looks pained, almost as much as I feel. My lips curl empathetically, yet I can't feel it within.

"Ally just... come here." He smiles sadly. Morose coats his features, and I'm at no strength to ignore his desires. I amble back towards him, and find myself shaking in his arms.

"Austin, I've failed. The assignment was due today and I didn't do it and –"

I know what you're thinking. 'Oh it's just an assignment, what does it matter?' Well, it matters to me. All my life I've strived for scholarly excellence, to always do my best in the harshest of circumstances. I've risen to any challenge I've grappled with, and my father has been so proud. What to you may be one faulty grade, but to me is the bridge crumbling. The principal doesn't take lightly to people 'ignoring' assignments, and this credential will attach to me like my own shadow. Not many people care as much as I do. Austin has many infringements in his file now, but I cannot afford to have one.

Austin coddles me, spurring me back to reality.

"Ally, you're not going to fail. I promise."

"How on earth can you promise that?" I shout accusingly, as Austin snatches my hand.

"Follow me, and I'll show you how."

We wind up in Mike Moon's mayoral building. Austin, being the son of the boss, is ignored. He weaves in and out of the rooms, looking for the perfect spot. Our hands still entwined, I whine about his tight grip.

"Ew, your hands are all sweaty and gross!" I giggle, and Austin turns to me with a grin of his own.

He opens up a door at the end of the whitewash hall, and locks the door behind us. The board room occupies a table that can fit twelve, with plentiful decorations skewed about the room. Panelled windows face the perfectly manicured garden.

"Austin, what are we doing here?" I slink into one of the chairs, and look up to my best friend in bewilderment.

"I figured, considering Ms Suzy's favourite student is you, we can bend the rules and have you hand in something tomorrow. You know, without marring your record."

"Austin, you can't bend rules! You try to change them, and they'll snap, break and hurt you!" I retort insistently, as Austin gives me a lame look. I twirl one of my curls around my finger instead. "Besides, how is this boardroom going to help me anyway?"

"Well, I was thinking that if you sang to me, then I could convince you to at least widen the audience to two." Austin's hazel eyes catch a glint of sun, and he falls behind the curtains to shade himself.

It makes me think back to when we met, Austin and I. The way he hides meekly behind the curtains reminds of the time we first met...

_Six year old Austin Moon appeared at his window the day I moved in. He watched me with wide eyes as my mother, my father and I all fumbled with the moving van and the carriage of boxes. _

"_Who is that?" Cassidy, Austin's sister, queried. _

"_I'm gonna find out." He replied, even stubborn for his age then. _

_He raced out the front door, forgetting his shoes. The hot, summers day burned his soles as he raced down the pavement to investigate further the strange happenings of the small house down the street. _

_He then saw me. Wearing a cute butterfly dress, I found it hard to carry the boxes on my own. I hate to admit it, but I wasn't as strong as I told people I was. My mom and dad continued to trudge across the grass, but I had trouble with just one lowly box. _

"_Want help?" Austin offered kindly, helping me immediately without hesitation. The box floated in the air, as we hurled it inside, into the sitting room. My parents stopped in their tracks as they saw him wiping his hands together in a praise of his good efforts. _

"_Who are you?" My mother questioned, looking at the boy. _

"_I'm Austin." He said in affirmation, winning a grin from me and showcasing my gap-tooth. _

_My parents were beyond confused, but let this strange boy help the rest of us unpack. We were up to our third box, when a gust of wind left the box open on the grass – we weren't strong enough. _

_I inhaled deeply, as my mermaid playsets spewed across the ground. Austin's face lit up like a Christmas tree. _

"_I've always wanted to be a mermaid!" He hollered in delight, as we both took the cue and started to play. _

_Eventually, Mike and Mimi found their way to our house to find the two of us still playing with the dolls (Austin had deciding he wasn't playing mermaids anymore, but was playing with his own 'shark man'.) Our parents laughed at how well we connected over the toys, yet we never tore our eyes away from our fixed reality. The sun started to saunter showingly into the horizon, but neither of us wanted to leave. It wasn't just because of the dolls, or the fact we were only six and we couldn't muster the strength to move. _

_We felt right at home with each other from the very start._

That was my first memory in Gracie, and I've come to treasure it ever since. I look up at Austin now, across the boardroom, and I can't help but smile to myself. I just can't believe how lucky I am to have him. He can be mutinous at times, seeing whenever he needs a meal he expects me to make it for him because he's useless.

"What?" Austin chirps, and falls into the seat next to mine. I look at him with all seriousness, and weigh the options in my head. Just looking at him is making me realise there is no outcome in the world that can't be bandaged by him.

My stage fright has consumed a lot of me, sure. But friendship? Friendship will always win.

"Let's do it. Help me perform for Ms Suzy." I smile shyly, looking through the hair that has fallen across my face.

It doesn't take a whole lot of vision to see the way Austin's expression resounds with happiness.

* * *

><p>I place my watch on my nightstand, and back away from the collage of photographs lining my mirror. My room is by no definition 'big'. Notebooks, journals and sheet music coat my desk, and my bed the focal point of nearly everything within the area. The only other point of interest is the double French provincial doors that lead to a narrow balcony. Although all you can see from it is the woods, I find comfort in watching the stars on the night I struggle to lull myself into a sleep.<p>

Tonight definitely being one of those nights, I slip out the door and hug my dressing gown to my body. I sit on the wicker chair, and glance upwards to the stars that blanket the sky. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I snatch it up immediately.

**AUSTIN: ur not goin to get a F! :D **

I've long since accustomed to Austin's terrible grammar and prose. Yet his comment intrigues me.

**ALLY: And why would that be? :o**

I get a reply almost instantly.

**AUSTIN: i sent a vid of u 2 ms suzy... she said ur in!**

My eyes amble to Austin's manor, just up the road. I can see the lights on in the windows, and I know that

I start to squeal in delight, knowing I'm not going to fail. I roll about my chair, my smile irreversible. This is an amazing feat, and just one of the many moments that make me appreciate my Austin Monica Moon all the more.

"Thank you." I smile under my breath, looking up to the Moons.

Until I realise, much too late, what has just happened.

I'm in the show.

I have stage-fright and I'm in the show. A show which people will witness and watch and...

_Oh no. _

**A/N: Haha, you made it! :D First, thank you so much for reading this far! You just read the first chapter of this story and I'm eternally grateful! :')**

**Just a little housekeeping, I know it's ironic to see Trish as a 'bully' considering the episode of Austin & Ally that just aired... but my characters need depth, and all will be explained. And it's not like she's a bully bully, right? Bullying is completely unacceptable in reality, but this is a story... like I said, things will sort themselves out. Eventually. **

**Also, I want you guys to know that the little 'flashback' sequences will be a reoccurring (not constant) fixture to the story. Although they can be cute and sweet and sort of interesting to read, they won't be in every chapter. :P**

**So that's it for me tonight. Thank you all so much for reading! I really hope you'll check out my other stories, seeing as they're longer than this one and will keep you occupied until I update (in a few days time).**

**I just want you to know that this may seem boring... and I'm sorry for that. I promised you I'd update this story tonight, so I've stayed up pretty late to do it. :P Hopefully it will grow on people. :)**

**So yeah, follow – favourite – review (if you deem worthy) and I hope you enjoyed the first of many chapters!**

**Just one quick question before you leave – **_**will Ally get over her stage fright? And what on earth is in store for these two now?**_

**Hehe, I guess we'll just have to wait and see! :3**

**~ Purle-Stream xox**


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